Electric planer



Nov. 19, 1946.

PETER THOMPSON Nov. 19, 1946. A. FRIEDMAN ETAL 2,411,257

ELECTRIC PLANER Filed April 14, 1943 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Q q I l NVENTORS A. FRIEDMAN PETER THOMPSON ATTORNEYS Nov. 19, 1946. A. FRIEDMAN ET AL ELECTRIC PLANER Filed April 14, 1945 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTORS A, FRIEDMAN PETER THOMPiON Z AT TORNEYS Nov. 19, 1946.

A. FRIEDMAN ETAL 2,411,257

ELECTRIC PLANER Filed April 14, 1945 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 IINVENTORS A. FRIEDMAN PETER THOMPSON ATTORNEYS Nov. 19, 1946. A. FRIEDMAN ETAL ELECTRIC PLANER Filed April 14, 1943 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Patented Nov. 19,1946

ELECTRIC PLAN ER Abraham Friedman and Peter Thompson,

Peshtigo, Wis., assignors to Unit Structures,

Inc., Peshtigo, Wis.

Application April 14, 1943, Serial No. 482,962

1 Claim. 1

This invention appertains to wood working machinery and more particularly to a novel planer for large structural units such as wood beams and arches.

In the forming of large arches and beams from glued boards (see Patent $7 2,172,093, issued September 5, 1939) the edges of the boards protrude different distances from the face of the beam or arch and great difficulty is experienced in properly planing and smoothing these edges to form the finished structural unit. Where an attempt is made to plane the units by hand, a great deal of time and labor is consumed.

It is therefore, one of the primary objects of the invention to provide an automatic planing machine for traveling over the face of the beam from one end thereof to the other for effectively planing the full width of the beam during the travel of the machine.

Another salient object of the invention is to provide a self-propelled planing machine adapted to travel over the face of the beam by driving rollers rotatably mounted on the frame of the machine, with a planing cylinder on the frame mounted between said driving rollers.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a leading driving roller comprising a plurality of independently movable discs, whereby said roller will conform itself to the boards forming the beam during the travel of the machine over said beam.

A further important object of the invention is the provision of guide rollers on the frame of the machine for engaging the side of the arch or beam on the inside curve thereof for effectively guiding the machine during its travel over the arch.

A still further object of this invention is the provision of means for adjusting the planing cylinder relative to the face of the arch or beam and for carrying the cut material away from the planing cylinder and the machine.

A still further important object of the invention is the provision of a mobile carrier for the planing machine, whereby the machine can be readily placed on a beam and received from the beam after the planing operation.

A still further object of the invention is to provide an adjustable table on said mobile car+ rier, whereby the planing machine can be raised or lowered on said carrier to the correct height of the beam or arch.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of a sanding roller on the machine arranged in rear of the planing cylinder for effectively giving a finished surface to thebeam or arch, where such is needed.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists in the novel construction, arrangement and formation of parts, as will be hereinafter more specifically described, claimed and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which drawings:

Figure 1 is a side, elevational view of a diagrammatic nature showing the novel planing machine being moved on to an arch from its mobile carrier.

Figure .2 is a top, plan view of a diagrammatic nature showing the planing machine traveling over the face of an arch.

Figure 3 is a side, elevational View of thenovel planing machine.

Figure 4 is a side, elevational view of the planing machine showing the opposite side thereof from Figure 3.

Figure 5 is a top, plan view of the improved planing machine.

Figure 6 is a fragmentary, longitudinal, sectional view through the planing machine taken on the line 6-6 of Figure 7 looking in the direction of the arrows.

Figure 7 is a horizontal, sectional view through the planing machine taken on the line 1-1 of Figure 6 looking in the direction of the arrows.

Figure 8 is a transverse, sectional view through the machine taken on the line 8-8 of Figure 6 looking in the direction of the arrows.

Figure 9 is an enlarged fragmentary, detail,

looking in the direction of the arrows, illustrating the sliding connection between the main frame of the machine and the sliding shoe for regulating the depth of the cut of the planing cylinder.

Figure 10 is a fragmentary, detail, transverse, sectional view taken on the line Ill-l0 of Figure 6 looking in the direction of the arrows showing the connection of the bed plate with the side walls of the frame.

Figure 11 is a detail, horizontal, sectional View taken on the line H--H of Figure 4 looking in the direction of the arrows illustrating one of the guide rollers for engaging the side of the beam.

Figure 12 is a fragmentary, longitudinal, sectionalview showing the use of a sanding roller with the machine.

Referring to the drawings in detail, wherein similar reference characters designate correponding parts throughout the several views, the

letter M generally indicates the novel planing machine and C the mobile carrier therefor for placing the machine on an arch A and for receiving the planing machine from an arch.

The arch A is of the type formed from a series of glued boards l5 as shown in Patent #2,172,093 heretofore mentioned. Usually the boards I5,

forming a part of the arch protrude unequal dis tances from the face of the beam and difficulty is encountered in quickly and accurately planing the faces of the arch and the machine M is utilized for planing the faces of the arch and overcoming this difficulty.

Due to the great weight of the machine M, we provide the mobile carrier C for transporting the machine M to an arch or beam and for receiving the machine from the arch or beam after the machine has completed its work. Obviously, one or more mobile carriers C can be provided.

As illustrated, the mobile carrier C includes a chassis l6 mounted upon caster wheels [1. The chassis supports a table l8 for the machine M and this table can be raised and lowered on the chassis, such as by the use of jack screws l9. By providing the table l8, the machine M can be accurately raised and lowered to the exact height of the arch or beam, which facilitates the placing of the machine on the arch or beam and for receiving the machine from the arch or beam.

The machine M comprises a main frame 29 and an adjustable leading shoe 2i for regulating the depth of the out, as will be later set forth.

The main frame 29 can be constructed in various manners and as illustrated the same includes spaced parallel side plates 22 and 23 connected and braced together. These plates are also connected by a rear wall 24. The lower edges of the side walls have formed thereon inwardly extending flanges 25 to which are secured smooth bed plates 26 and 2?. These bed plates are spaced for receiving the intermediate driving roller 28, which will also be later more fully described. The forward end of the side walls 22 and 23 are inclined upwardly and forwardly and these inclined edges are also provided with inturned v flanges 29. p

' The front adjustable shoe 2! is fitted underneath said upwardly and forwardly inclined front edges of the frame and this shoe includes spaced side walls 30 and 3|, which are connected together and braced in any desired way. The forward edges of the walls 39 and 3! are connected by a front wall 32 and the lower edges of the side walls at the rear thereof are connected by a smooth bed plate 33 which is arranged in front of and in spaced relation to the bed plate 26. The side walls 30 and 3| of the adjustable shoe also carry inclined flanges 34 on their upper edges which slidably engage the flanges 29 of the frame. Brackets 35 are employed for slidably connecting the adjustable shoe 2| with the main frame and these brackets 35 are of a U shape in side elevation, see Figure 9, and embrace the flanges 29 and 34. Screws 36 extend through slots in the brackets 35and are threaded into ribs 3! carried by the flanges 29. carried by the brackets for adjustably engaging the flanges 29. By this construction the brackets can be adjusted relative to the flanges to engage the same with the proper and desired friction.

The adjustable shoe can be slid up and down on the main frame in any preferred way so as to regulate the position of its bed plate 33 relative to the work and to the bed plates 26 and 21 carried by the main frame. As illustrated. a main Set screws are also 4 longitudinally extending adjusting shaft 39 is rotatably mounted in a suitable bearing carried by the main frame and this shaft can be turned manually through the provision of a hand wheel 49. This hand wheel 40 is rigidly secured to a cross shaft 4! which is rotatably mounted in bearings carried by the side walls 22 and .23 of the main frame. The shaft 4| is operatively connected to the shaft 39 by a worm 42 and a worm wheel 43. Th forward end of the shaft 39 is operatively connected to an adjusting screw shaft 44 through the medium of intermeshing bevelled gears 45. This adjusting screw shaft 44 is also carried by bearings on the main frame, but the shaft'is received within a nut 46 carried by the shoe 2|. Hence, by turning the shaft 39 through the medium of the hand wheel 49, the screw shaft 44 will be rotated and the shoe being connected to said shaft by the nut will be slid up or down according to the rotation of said screw shaft 44.

The main frame 20 carries a rear drive roller 41 which is arranged directly in back of the bed plate 27 and the adjustable shoe 2| carries a front drive roller 48 which is arranged directly in front of the bed plate 32. This drive roller 48 is of special construction, so as to effectively engage the work, and this roller will be later described in detail. It is to be noted that the intermediate drive roller 28 and the rear drive roller 41, both of which are carried by the main frame, are rigidly mounted upon axle shafts 49 and 50 respectively and the terminals of these shafts are rotatably supported in bearing blocks 5| which are slidably mounted for vertical movement within guide brackets 52 carried by the side walls or plates 22 and 23 of the main frame. The

ends of the axle shafts 49 and 59 on one side are provided with sprocket wheels 53 and these.

sprocket wheels have trained thereabout a drive sprocket wheel 55 which is keyed or otherwise secured to a counter shaft 56 rotatably mounted upon the frame. or otherwise secured thereto a relatively large sprocket wheel 5'! which is in line with a relatively small sprocket Wheel 58 and the sprocket wheels 5'! and 58 are operatively connected to gether by a sprocket chain 59. The sprocket Wheel 58 is keyed or otherwise secured to a drive: shaft 60 and this shaft is driven, through the v use of a suitable gearing (not shown), from an electric motor 6!. Anadjustable idle sprocket wheel 62 can be provided for taking up any slack in the sprocket chain 54 and the adjustable idle sprocket wheel 62' acts as a chain tightener.

The front drive roller 48 is also driven from the counter shaft 56 and this counter shaftphas keyed or otherwise secured thereto a sprocket wheel 62, which is in line with a sprocket wheel 63, keyed or otherwise secured to a jack shaft 64. The jack shaft 64 has also secured thereon a sprocket wheel 65 and it is to be noted that the jack shaft is above the drive roller 48.

This drive roller 48 includes an axle shaft 66, the terminals of which are rotatably mounted in swinging rock arms 61. The upper ends of the rock arms are fastened to a transversely extending rock shaft 68 and set screws 69 and Hi-are provided for adjusting the positionof the arms 61 whereby to raise or lower the front drive roller 48. Keyed to the axle shaft 66 of the drive roller are a plurality of independent drive discs H and each of the discs H has mounted thereon a serrated drive ring 72. The discs H are operatively connected to the rings 12 by interen I gaging teeth 13, A spring connection 14 is pro- The counter shaft has keyed vided between eachdisc 1i and each ring 12 so as to normally hold the rings 12 centered on their discs. By this construction and arrangement, as the machine travels forwardly over the face of the arch the rings, engaging the individual boards making up the arch, can raise or lower to conform to the configuration of the face of the arch.

The front drive roller 48 is driven from the motor 6! and by referring to Figures 3, l, and it can be seen that the sprocket wheels 62 and 63 are operatively connected together by means of a sprocket chain 75. The axle shaft 66 of the drive roller 48 has keyed or otherwise secured thereto a sprocket wheel l6 and a sprocket chain 11 is trained about this sprocket wheel and a sprocket wheel on the stub shaft 66. An adjustable idle sprocket wheel 78 is employed for tightening the chain Tl. going description, it can be seen that all of the drive rollers are operated from a single motor.

Extending transversely across the machine is a planing cylinder 19 and this cylinder is disposed between the bed plates 26 and 33. As is clearly illustrated in the drawings, the planing cylinder is disposed in rear of the front driving roller 48 but in front of the intermediate and rear drive rollers 28 and 41. The planing cylinder is rotatably carried by the main frame of the machine and this cylinder can be of any preferred character. As illustrated, the same includes a plurality of longitudinally extending planing knives 80 which can be adjustably carried by the cylindrical body of the planing cylinder. The ends of the body carry stub axles which are rotatably mounted in bearings 8! and these bearings can be adjustably mounted on the side plates 22 and 23 of the main frame of the machine whereby the planing cylinder can be raised or lowered. As illustrated, the slide bear ings 8| are engaged by screw shafts 82 and these adjusting screws are provided with worm wheels 83. The worm wheels 83 are engaged by worms 84 with a worm wheel shaft 35. This shaft is rotatably mounted in bearings carried by the front of the machine and the shaft can be provided with a hand wheel 86 whereby said shaft can be conveniently turned for operating the shaft 82.

The outer end of one stub shaft of the planing cylinder has keyed or otherwise secured thereto a pulley wheel 81 and this pulley wheel is driven by a pulley belt 83, which is also trained about a pulley wheel keyed or otherwise secured to the armature shaft 90 of an electric drive motor 91. This drive motor 9| is firmly mounted upon the top of the frame of the machine. Hence, the planing cylinder 19 is operated independently from the drive rollers.

As the machine advances over the arch or beam, it is essential that the material removed from the face of the arch or beam be carried away from the planing cylinder and the machine. In order to carry these pieces away, the cylinder is provided with a suction hood 92 and this hood has communicating with the top thereof a suction pipe 93. The suction pipe communicates with the intake of a suction fan 9 which is also firmly mounted upon the top of the main frame of the machine. The drive shaft 95 of the suction fan is operated from an electric motor 96 which is also carried by the top of the main frame. As is also clearly shown in the drawings, the armature shaft of the motor can be provided with a pulley wheel 81 and the drive shaft of the suc- Hence, from the foretion fan can be provided with a pulley wheel '98. These pulley wheels 91 and 98 can be operatively connected together by a pulley belt 99. The outlet of the suction fan has communicating therewith a depending outlet pipe I llil'which leads to one side ofthe machine. The material which is removed from the arch can be either blown on to thefloor of the sho or can be caught in a bag llll which is detachably connected to the outlet exhaust or outlet pipe loll.

In operation of the machine, as the various laminations of the beam or arch have been secured together and the arch or beam is removed from the forms, the machine M is wheeled to the arch by the mobile carrier C and the table l8 of the carrier is adjusted to the correct height. The machine is now rolled partially on the arch A until the planing cylinder reaches the front edge of the arch. At this time the front driving roller 58 will be pulling on the upper face of the arch or beam. The various motors are now started and the machine is guided onto the beam and travels onto the beam and alon the length of the beam under its own power by said driving rollers 48, 28, and 41. The guide rollers I02 and H13, which form an important part of the machine and which will be later described in der tail, are adjusted to fit against the inner side face of the arch (see Figure 2) and these rollers effectively guide the machine in its travel over the face of the beam and during the travel of the machine, the upper face thereof is efficiently planed. Obviously the shoe 2| is adjusted so that the planing cylinder 19 will cut the desired depth.

When the machine reaches the end of the arch or beam a mobile carrier C is placed at such end to receive the same and when the planing cylinder reaches the mobile carrier, th motor 9| therefor can be cut off and the machine will then travel on to said mobile carrier. The motor 6| for the drive rollers 28, 41 and 48 can be cut off when the machine travels on to the carrier.

Particular attention is now invited to the guide rollers I02 and m3 and these guide rollers are clearly illustrated in Figures 4 and 11. The guide rollers I02 and H33 are rotatably mounted on depending spindles Hi l carried by the outer ends of crank arms I05. These crank arms are keyed or otherwise secured at their inner ends to the lower terminals of adjusting shafts I06 and Ill]. The adjusting shafts Hi6 and IQ! are rotatably mounted in bearings I88 carried by the side plate 23 of the main frame 20 of the machine. The upper ends of the shafts I06 and iii! are provided respectively with bevelled gears IE9 and each of the bevelled gears have meshing therewith bevelled ears H0 which are keyed respectively to manipulating shafts Ill and H2. These shafts are mounted on the main frame of the machine and the outer end of each shaft has connected therewith a hand wheel H3 to facilitate the operation thereof. Obviously, by turning the wheels H3, the guide wheels I03 and it can be individually adjusted.

In certain instances it may be desirable to not only plane the top of the arch or beam, but to also sand the top of the beam. In Figure 12 we have shown a modification of our invention in which a sanding roller H4 is employed. The sanding roller I! is rotatably mounted on a suitable frame 5 which is connected to the rear of the main frame 2!]. An independent drive motor H6 is provided for actuating said sanding roller H4.

3 Various changes in details may be made without departing from the spirit or the scope of our invention, but what we claim as new is:

A self-propelled machine for planing the upper face of a largebeam or arch comprising a frame, a power driven planing cylinder extending transversely across said frame for engaging the upper face of an arch or beam, power driven propelling rollers extending transversely of the frame of the machine for engaging the upper face of thebeam; spaced crank shafts carried byone side of the frame, cranks on the lower ends of said shafts, guide rollers carried by said cranks for engaging the side face of an arch or beam, and independent means for turning each of said shafts.

ABRAHAM FRIEDMAN. j

PETER THOMPSON. 

